Clayton Library’s goal: preserving African American history. The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum in the decommissioned Culver City courthouse has gone from being one woman’s personal mission to something of a miracle.

The first miracle is its 2 million items — second only to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. Those items include 25,000 magazines, 20,000 books, 17,000 photographs, 1,000 pieces of sheet music, 700 films and 300 movie posters.

The second miracle: the library’s first annual budget of $500,000, paid staff of four, about 40 volunteers and, last month, more than 500 visitors.

But numbers don’t tell the entire story. Sandra Lindsey, a volunteer who discovered the library while working on her master’s in history at Cal State L.A., says: “Don’t come through the door if you don’t want to be hooked.”

Photo: Mayme Clayton talks about black history at the library-research center she founded in her garage. Clayton died in 2006. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Culver City gallery owner gives crutches to Sierra Leone disabled: Lisa Schultz was moved by photos of victims of the African country’s civil war — and determined to do something to help.

Photo: Schultz distributed 10,000 pairs of crutches to disabled men, women and children in Sierra Leone but has raised just over half of the $250,000 needed to pay for them. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Cycling advocates are airing concerns after a Culver City crash that injured 11 riders. An online group posted a video re-creating the road conditions near Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook in Culver City on the night of the crash, suspected to have been caused by a drunk driver.

Photo: Alvaro Sibaja brings his bike to the entrance of the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook at the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Hetzler Road, where a crash injured 11 cyclists on Wednesday. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times